The semi-weekly fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1886-1887, 1887-11-08
LOST ON THE LAKE.
A Frightful Disaster ON Lake
Michigan.
A Steam Propeller Goes Down
With Many People.

The propeller Vernon, Of the Northern
Michigan Line, foundered during a terrible
gale which ragged on Lake Michigan, and OF
her entire crew and list of passengers, num-
bering over thirty, and probably close on to
fifty, not many, if any, escaped No greater
loss of life has occurred on any one wreck on
the lakes this season.
The first news Of the disaster came to
Chicago in a dispatch from Milwaukee,
where the steamer Superior he'd arrived.
The Superior had passed not only large
quantities of wreckage, bu5 had passed, I'M
able to Succor, raft ana small boat In
which persons appealing IN vain for help
were seen.
ITO pass one man on a raft appealing for
our help, another dying from exposure, and
a small boat in which we could see one
woman and three men, one of the latter hail
ing, with a coat Suck up Oh his oar, all being
tossed about i'll terrible sea with
any assistance, was heartrending in
the extreme" said Captain Moran. of the
Superior, in telling his story. I'VE were
also fighting for our lives, our steamer
having become disabled in the sea- said
the Captain, land it was three hours
before we had made repairs So that
we could handle ourselves, and then we
were out of sight of the shipwrecked
IL
when off Two Rivers. some miles out III Lake
Michigan, that we passed through some lum-
Der. Five miles further on we passed lot
of barrels, and then encountered wreck
furniture and bed clothing besides
life preservers here and there.
When about six miles eastrnortheast of Mani
towoc a lookout called me on deck with the
with a man on it. AS L went on
deck 1 could plainly see the man wav
ing his hand to us. He was stand
ing upright on the raft, which was about
half mile between us and the Shore and the
sea was washing over it. 1t appeared about
twelve feet square and as if it might be the
top of a cabin"
Ten minutes later we sighted another raft,
also about half mile inside of us. 1t was
much smaller, apparently not more than
by 8 feet and looked like piece OF bull
warks. On it was lying a man who, al
though still alive, probably did not discern
see him dip his head, and his frail little
float was tossed about in the sea as
though he was about dead. We saw yawl
with three men and one woman IN 1t little
further south. There may, however, have
been more Of them lying down in the
boat, the three we saw being on the seats.
One of the men was standing up holding his
oar with his coat swinging on 1t TO attract
attention. Their hearts must have been
gladdened in their expectation of
ReIp from u.s. How inkuman they
must nave UnOuSnG us "neu We Dtooo l
them by, and within a mile, too, without
even turning our vessel toward them! But
with our steering gear, disabled as 1t was, we
could not steer vessel, and there was
nothing for US to do but hope that some of
the vessels coming up the lake astern of Us
might discover them and pick them
up. / doubt, however, if any boat
could have picked up the yawl in such an
awful sea, and to have taken men OF raft
would have been impossible. It was as heavy
a sea as have experienced in all my Life on
the lakes Just to give an idea OF it, the San
dusky, which we had in tow, sometimes
buried herself SO that only half of her masts
could be seen. Once she sta Jed under so bug
that thought she was gone.
Captain Williams of the schooner Joseph
Paige, told a similar story. His vessel had
passed through the wreckage a little later
than the SUI er:or. we encountered part
of a pi!othouse," said Captain Williams,
land there was man on it. He was off our
port quarter about half a mile and was
clinging to the piIothouse. He seemed to
be getting along fairly well under the
circumstances. The sea was running so high
that it lifted our boat from the davits. Had
we discovered the man on top OF the pilot
picked him up, but him too late, and
it was impossible to turn back in the terrible
gale of wind that was blowing"
The stories told by the Captains of the
Superior and the Joseph Paige were con
frmed by those of the crews of vessels which
arrived here to-day. The schooner Blazing
Star, which arrived late this, even
ing, reported having passed through
o'clock Saturday afternoon. The crew
counted the bodies of ten dead men
each with a cork life preserver strapped
about it. They also saw living mar
perched on top of the roof Of a CABIN
He shouting for help, but al
though his cries could be distinctly heard
the crew of the vessel say they were power
less to render any assistance. The schooner
Horace II Badger passed through the wreck
age later in the day and 81 GIFTED two OOdi IS.
Probably not less than SO and perhaps *
lives were lost with the steamer. The
exact number may never be known
Only one list of the passengers anC
crew was kept. and that was aboard
Of the Vernon The managers of the lin
say UnaU Une crew numbered between twenty
three and twenty five AMI they know the
names of only eight. Wheeimen, fremen anC
deck hands are changed so frequently that nc
effort is made to keepa list of them.
Now serving their first term at Sing Sins